Teachers, parents shouldn’t encourage bribery in school elections

Last Friday, a primary school in Kampala held elections of leaders for the academic year 2016/2017. What was surprising though was the level of campaigning, intimidation, and rigging that was masterminded by the teachers who had been bribed by some of the parents whose children were contesting for leadership positions.
As a guardian to one of the pupils, I was disappointed when one of the children told me that a teacher told another pupil that if he did not vote the teacher’s candidate of choice, he would not mark his books.
Another teacher told me that one of the contestants’ mother said her child couldn’t win because her opponents were from rich families.

And then another teacher confided in me that each teacher on the school’s electoral commission board had been bribed with Shs200,000 by a parent to influence the lower class to vote for their child.
Some of the pupils who were acting as polling agents for their candidates were chased away from the polling centres and some said they had seen the teachers ticking ballot papers.
The school administration should investigate these malpractices and establish disciplinary measures for culprits.

School is not only about academics, it is also a place to groom pupils at a fundamental stage so they grow into responsible citizens in the future.
As a citizen who is concerned about the democratic future of this country, I wonder whether the next generation of leaders will practice civilized politics if they have been shown by the teachers and parents that all that matters is money to win.
The future of Uganda’s politics is in jeopardy if action is not taken by parents and teachers to act as positive role models.
Florence Muheirwe,
Concerned guardian